Julie Clark
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Paleo Fried Fish
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Make this crispy, Paleo Fried Fish for a healthy, 30-minute meal that kids will love! A gluten free fried fish batter that you will not believe is good for you.
Do you ever get stuck in the chicken and ground beef rut for dinner?
I know we do. To many of us, chicken and ground beef are the safe, easy meats to prepare at home. It’s true that they are easy, but I’m going to push you out of your ground beef comfort zone today and show how quickly a paleo battered fish dinner can come together.
Healthy fried fish even the kids will love.
I know a lot of times kids (and even adults) can cringe at the idea of fish. This Paleo Battered Fish will become a favorite. How do I know? Because two of my kids were not happy with my choice of fish for dinner, but as soon as they had one bite of this crispy, fried cod, they suddenly thought fish was the best dinner ever.
I developed this version of paleo fried fish which means it is grain-free, gluten-free, sugar-free and dairy free. Healthy, but still fantastically delicious.
And the kids still loved it. Success.
Ingredients in Paleo Battered Fish
- Tapioca starch and coconut flour. These are two naturally gluten-free flours. The coconut flour adds flavor and texture while the tapioca starch helps the breading hold together. If you don’t like coconut flour you could try almond flour.
- Garlic salt, salt, ground black pepper. Simple seasonings to this fish can go with just about any side dish, but “chips” and dill pickles are a favorite! Just like a traditional fish fry.
- Eggs. Eggs help the batter be nice and thick and help it stick to the fish.
- Sparkling water. Why sparkling water? It’s a replacement for the beer in beer battered fish. If you’d like, you can just use plain water.
- Alaskan cod. The 5 Alaskan cod fish filets that I used were large. I cut the fillets into two triangles to make 10 smaller pieces of fish. Make sure the cod fillets are defrosted and pat them dry with a paper towel so the batter sticks better. You can also use halibut, haddock or even shrimp.
- Olive oil. Coconut oil or avocado oil are two good alternatives.
Before you begin.
Two things to think about before you make this paleo fried fish.
- When using gluten-free/grain free ingredients, it’s important to handle the fish the least amount possible. The breading doesn’t stick on as well as with regular white flour. I placed the fish in the oil, then didn’t touch it for 4 minutes until I turned the fish. Then the fish cooked for another 3-4 minutes and I gently removed the fish to wire rack so that they can drip but stay crispy.
- Don’t cook the fish too long. Depending on the thickness of the fish fillets, it will only take 3-5 minutes of frying on each side before it is done. Test the fish carefully with a fork and it should be white and flaky. If you cook the fish too long, it may get tough.
How to Make Paleo Fried Fish
Don’t be scared off at the thought of making a fried fish dinner. Paleo fish is easy to prepare and cooks quickly, making this a meal you can get on your table in under 30 minutes, and here’s how you’ll do it.
- In a shallow bowl, combine the tapioca starch, coconut flour, seasonings, eggs and water. Whisk well. Add more sparkling water if the mixture gets too thick.
- Heat ½ cup of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
- While the oil is heating, cut the cod fillets in half diagonally (if they are too big and you’d like smaller pieces). Use a paper towel to gently pat the cod fillets dry.
- Once the oil is hot, coat the cod fillets with the batter, let any excess batter drip off and place them into the hot oil.
- Allow the fillets to cook for 4 minutes, then gently flip the fillets and allow them to cook for an additional 3-5 minutes until they are white and flaky inside. Be careful not to overcook. Fish is safe to eat with an internal temperature of 145ºF. Use our favorite instant read thermometer!
- Once the fillets are done, use a spatula to remove them from the oil and place them on wire rack with paper towels underneath so that they stay crispy. Serve immediately.
Recipe Variations
- Cut the fish into strips to make fish sticks! The kids will love this.
- We’re often asked if you can use your air fryer for this recipe. I wouldn’t recommend it because of the batter would stick in the basket grates. If you try it, use foil or a pan to air fry the fish in.
- Cut the fried fish into pieces and make fish tacos! Place it in a flour tortilla and top it with pineapple salsa or mango salsa and Mexican coleslaw.
What to Serve with Paleo Fried Fish
Looking for side dishes? Try one of these:
If you don’t need paleo, serve our pineapple coleslaw with this gluten free fried fish recipe.
Paleo Battered Fish
Make this crispy, Paleo Battered Fish for a healthy, 30-minute meal that kids will love! A gluten free fried fish batter that you will not believe is good for you.
Servings 5 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup tapioca starch
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup sparkling water or more depending on thickness you'd like
- 24 ounces Alaskan cod fillets
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the tapioca starch, coconut flour, seasonings, eggs and water. ¾ cup tapioca starch, ¼ cup coconut flour, 1 teaspoon garlic salt, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, 2 large eggs, ¼ cup sparkling water
- Heat ½ cup of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Cut the cod fillets in half diagonally (if they are too big and you'd like smaller pieces). Use a paper towel to gently pat the cod fillets dry.
- Once the oil is hot, coat the cod fillets with the batter and place them into the hot oil. 24 ounces Alaskan cod fillets
- Allow the fillets to cook for 4 minutes, then gently flip the fillets and allow them to cook for an additional 3-5 minutes until they are white and flaky inside. Be careful not to overcook.
- Once the fillets are done, use a spatula to remove them from the oil and place them on wire rack with paper towels underneath so that they stay crispy. Serve immediately.
Notes
Refer to the article above for more tips and tricks.
The calories shown are based on the recipe serving 5, with 1 serving being 1 piece of fish. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. **
Nutrition
Serving: 201g | Calories: 321kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 133mg | Sodium: 1047mg | Potassium: 595mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 0.5g | Vitamin A: 163IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 1mg
This recipe was relatively easy an be delicious. I used different seasonings, but other than that I started with the exact measurements of all listed ingredients. The batter was very thick like dough, so I added a few more tablespoons of water. My fish was golden and finished in 2-3 min. on each side. Yum!
Excellent with very minor mods. And I mean excellent! I’ve tried so many “healthy” fish batter recipes with really disappointing success. Crushed pork rinds (meh..), almond flour recipes that never seem to crisp up…etc… This is a big time keeper. I ended up using 3/8’s -1/2 cup of sparkling water (pineapple-coconut flavor) because I didnt have tapioca starch. Did some research and found out how much corn starch would substitute for the tapioca (1/2 the amount which is 1/3 cup instead of 3/4 cup for Tapioca). Corn starch requires a little more liquid. Added Creole Seasoning instead of the salt… Read more »
Amazing springboard recipe! After reading the comments, I used 3–4 times the amount of water (just plain water). I also replaced the garlic salt with onion powder and replaced 1/4 cup of the tapioca starch with almond flour. I dredged the fish (I used whiting fillets) in potato starch before battering. It got rave reviews from my family members, even the ones who usually eat “normal” breading. This is the first time I’ve been able to eat battered fried fish in several years, and it was such a blessing to find a great recipe that worked on the first try!
Howdy! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after going through many of the posts I realized it’s new to me. Nonetheless, I’m certainly pleased I found it and I’ll be bookmarking it and checking back regularly!
the batter turned to slime on me 🙁 I used sea bass and a cast iron skillet – maybe that was the issue.
I was very pleasantly surprised by this recipe. I used one teaspoon of garlic salt and left out the other teaspoon of plain salt as that seemed like an awful lot of salt. I also had to at least double the sparkling water to make the batter thin enough to handle, Be sure to dry the filets to make sure the batter sticks well. I used coconut oil and this recipe was absolutely delicious on some pike filets that I took out of my deep freeze from last Fall
Tried it last night for the first time. I was pretty nervous, after reading all the previous reviews, which seemed like a mixed bag of ‘it worked’ and ‘ not sure what happened’. Mine turned out fantastic and was super simple, imho. I used it was Tilapia fillets. The batter did thicken a bit much once or twice, as it sat, but just added a touch more water each time. I’m assuming this was due to the coconut flour. It seems to be something you drag the fish through instead of dip, per-say, but it works great. I used the… Read more »